


wouldst thou like to live deliciously?

by backjeanpocket



Category: Original Work
Genre: Adolescent Sexuality, Allegory, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Free Verse, Gen, Growing Up, High School, Horror, Mystery, Open to Interpretation, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Original Universe, POV Original Character, Poetry, Psychological Horror, Queer Themes, Queer Youth, Secret Relationship, Secrets, Self-Discovery, Small Towns, Supernatural Elements, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, Teenagers, Vignette, Witchcraft, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-13 18:43:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20587238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/backjeanpocket/pseuds/backjeanpocket
Summary: witches, queer visibility, and the mortifying ordeal of being known. / a parable





	wouldst thou like to live deliciously?

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT 6/4/20: Hi y'all. Please visit https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/# to find out how you can help support the Black Lives Matter movement. If we have time to read fic (THANK YOU for reading mine!), we have time to sign a life-saving petition, write an email to a lawmaker, or make a phone call demanding justice. I also encourage my readers to please make a donation if possible. Any amount helps!

i. i work closing at the video store on the corner of randolph and park. i shelve returns in the back room at the end of the day. i listen to my headphones. a small window splashes yellow headlights against the wall, bathes the linoleum in dusky twilight. i don't do it for the money. i do it so i don't have to answer questions.

ii. there is a grey locker at the end of the hall, across from the cafeteria. i don't think about it. inside are cutouts from home decor magazines and red starbursts in a metal tin. i don't think about it. sometimes you're there. sometimes i'm there too.

iii. my youth group meets on wednesdays. we have a silent prayer at the beginning, and we close our eyes. then we talk about bible stories and local politics. i look at a glossy poster of a horseback rider during youth group. the other kids press their lips together when they smile at me. i like the prayer best, but mine isn't always to god.

iv. our lockers have metal slats at the top, so the air can circulate. but other things fit through the slats too. flowers, letters. red starbursts.

v. i'm re-shelving the day's last return when yellow headlights fall across the wall. something blue shimmers through the middle, skitters into the open closet. i cast my gaze into the black. a blue crescent wobbles into shape. it gleams like a knife. like a smile. i flatten against the wall and flick on the fluorescents.

vi. i watch you toss your pom-poms into orbit at halftime; a handmade eclipse. sunnyside, we're strangers. in the dark, i flatten against the grass and close my eyes. stars wink through the slats in the metal bleachers. you wear boxers under your skirt, but no one would know it.

vii. this time, i sit cross-legged on the tile in the back room and wait. headlights. blue shimmer. i face the light in the closet. it pulses softly. then it blazes bigger, bluer, flares impossibly white-bright and shatters in an instant. my phone buzzes. i toss my key behind the desk and bolt through the parking lot.

viii. i'm perched on the edge of the motel bed, turning the little machine over in my hands. you're lounging behind me in tear-streaked foundation and smudged red lipstick. "i've never used one of these before." your chest presses to my back, arms encircling mine. "slide your thumb. and press." a flame blooms in my hand, but the only heat is your breath on my ear. "_you don't need the lighter to do it."_

ix. i awake to a car horn and yellow headlights on the wall. i sit up and look to the closet, anticipating blue light cut to ribbons by the wooden slats. nothing. black. i close my eyes. i lie down and roll onto my side, laying an arm across your waist. you turn to face me. your eyes open, gleaming blue. you smile.


End file.
